Wire-feeding and tensioning apparatus



I March 15, 1966 L. A. BASELICE WIRE-FEEDING AND TENSIONING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed larch 6, 1964 March 15, 1966 L. A. BASELICE WIRE-FEEDING AND TENSIONING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1964 March 15, 1966 A. BASELICE WIRE-FEEDING AND TENSIONING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 6, 1964 United States Patent 3,240,438 WIRE-FEEDING AND TENSIONING APPARATUS Louis A. Baselice, T urnersville, N.J., assignor to American Insulating Machinery Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 350,034 7 Claims. (Cl. 242-25) This invention relates to feeding and tensioning apparatus and particularly relates to apparatus for spooling wire under substantially constant winding tension.

In accordance with the present invention, the speed at which the wire, or equivalent, is pulled around a motordriven form, such as a spool or capstan, is maintained constant, within narrow limits, by a pulley arrangement including a reciprocable pulley-slide which is mechanically coupled to a constant-bias lever system and to a member whose position determines the motor speed. The wire-feeding and tensioning apparatus may also include an emergency motor-stop actuated when the pulleyslide reaches a predetermined position in at least one direction of its movement as a result of a wire-'breakor a wire-lock.

Also in accordance with the present invention, a pulley arrangement which senses change in tension on wire being spooled is also utilized to lay successive turns sideby-side on the spool. To effect such level winding, the tension-sensing pulleys are mounted on a carriage reciprocable axially of the spool and driven by a second motor which is automatically reversed each time the carriage, for each direction of its travel, reaches a position corresponding with an end of the winding space. More particularly, the aforesaid pulley-slide is mounted on the carriage for linear motion toward and from the path of travel of the carriage and the coupling to the bias-lever system is maintained by a link which slidably receives a rod attached to the slide and extending parallel to the path of the carriage.

The invention further resides in features of construction, combination and arrangement hereinafter described and claimed.

For a more detailed understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof and to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an apparatus for level-wind spooling of wire;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of part of the apparatus as viewed from line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partly in section and with parts omitted, of the apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is an across-the-line diagram of a suitable circuit for electrical components of the apparatus.

In the unit as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the wire feeding motor 11 is mounted on the stationary frame member 12 with its rotor shaft parallel to feedingshaft 13 supported by bearings in frame 12. The shaft 13 is driven from motor 11 through suitable speed-reducing mechanism exemplified by gears 14, 15. When the unit is used for spooling wire, the bobbin or spool 16 for rereceiving the wire is slipped over the free end of shaft 13. The hand-nut 17 is then screwed onto the shaft to clamp the bobbin between the conical member 19 fastened to the shaft 13 and the conical end 18 of the nut 17. When the unit 10 is used as a take-up drive, bobbin 16 is replaced by a capstan drum similarly fastened to shaft 13.

In either case, the wire 20 is pulled to and around the bobbin or capstan over a series of pulleys or rollers 21, 22, 23 having their axes offset to form a loop in the wire. The first and third pulleys 21, 23 are mounted, with normally fixed spacing between their axes, on the frame members 24, 25 suitably fastened to each other, as by welding. The intermediate pulley 22 is slidably mounted for linear movement of its axis toward and from a center line passing through the axes of pulleys 21, 23. The stud shaft 26 of pulley 21 is fastened to the frame member 24 and extends therefrom parallel to the shaft 13. The axial position of pulley 21 on shaft 26 is adjustable by the nuts 27A, 27B. The stud shaft 28 of pulley 23 is mounted on frame member 25 (via the plate 71) and extends parallel to the shafts 13 and 26. The axial position of pulley 23 on its shaft 28 is adjustable by the pair of nuts 29A, 29B. The stud shaft 30 for the intermediate pulley 22 extends from the slide 32 parallel to the shafts 26, 28 of the other pair of pulleys and its position axially of the shaft is adjustable by the nuts 31A, 31B. The three pulleys, as best shown in FIG. 2, are axially positioned so that they are all in the same plane. The pulley-slide 32 is guided for linear movement toward and from the pulleys 21 and 23 by the pair of rods 33, 33 which extends (FIG. 1) to the right from the frame member 24. The shaft 34 extends rearwardly from the slide 32 parallel to the pulley axes. The rear end portion of shaft 34 may be received by an elongated guide slot in the base or bracket member 38.

With the construction as thus far described, the coiling or winding tension on the wire as looped over the pulleys tends to move the slide 32 to the left (FIG. 1) so to shorten the length of the loop between the pulleys 21 and 23. Such shortening of the loop is opposed by the weighted lever arm 35 mounted for rotation about a fixed axis afforded by the stud shaft 36. The angularly movable weighted arm 35 is coupled to the linearly movable shaft 34 through a linkage including the link 39 which is fastened to the arm 35 and the link 41 connected by pivot pin 40 to the arm 39 and whose hub 41A is slidably and rotatably supported by the shaft 34. The linkage 39, 41 serves two purposes: the first, to apply to the pulley-slide 32 a force which is in opposition to that due to the wire 20, and the second to convert linear motion of the pulley-slide 32 to angular motion of the arm 35 and parts connected thereto.

To provide for adjustment of the biasing force exerted by arm 35 on slide 32, the weight 42 may be clamped at varying distances from the pivot-point or axis of shaft 36 and/or may itself be provided with a pair of upstanding pins 43, 43 for receiving additional weights 44. In normal operation of the apparatus, the arm 35 moves through only a small arc and the bias applied by it to the wire via slide 32 is essentially constant. The position and/ or location of the weights on arm 35 is adjusted so that arm 35 is in substantially horizontal position for the desired feeding tension on the wire: this adjustment is different for different sizes of the wire and for dilferent wire material.

The speed of the motor is varied to maintain the tension on the wire substantially constant by means including the control box 45 having an arm 46 whose position controls the degree of energization of the motor 11. For varying the position of arm 46 as a function of the tension on wire 20, the arm 46 is coupled as by cord 48 or other link to the short arm of a lever 47 which is pivotally mounted on shaft 49 extending outwardly from the sub-base 37. The longer end of the lever 47 is pivotally connected at 51 to the link whose other end is pivoted at 52 to the arm 53 of lever 35 which is opposite to the arm carrying the weights 42. Thus, as later explained more fully in discussion of FIG. 5, when the tension on the wire 20 falls below the desired preset value, the movement of pulley-slide 32 to the right is converted to a downward movement of the control arm 46 to increase the motor speed. Conversely, if the tension on the wire tends to increase beyond the desired value, the resulting movement of pulley-slide 32 is converted to upward movement of the control arm 46 to decrease the speed of the motor 11.

Thus, if the motor 11 is being used to drive a capstan of fixed diameter fastened to shaft 13, the speed of the motor will be controlled within a relatively narrow range to maintain the tension on the wire substantially constant. When the unit is used for spooling of wire, the diameter for each successive layer of the base on which the wire is wound is of increasing diameter and the range of speed control of the motor is correspondingly greater.

In addition, for level-winding of the coil turns on the bobbin, the pulleys 21 to 23 are moved as a unit back and forth axially of the bobbin. To that end, the frame members 24, 25 for supporting the pulleys 21 to 23 are mounted on, or form part of, a carriage 55 which is reciprocable in a path parallel to shaft 13. Specifically, the carriage 55 comprises a pair of guide bars 56 which extend from the frame member 25 through bearings 58 in the stationary frame member 12 to the opposite end 57 of the carriage. The rack 59 extending between the end frame members 25, 57 is engaged by the spur gear 60 fastened on shaft 61 suitably journaled in the fixed frame 12 and driven from the reversible motor 62 through an internal speed-reduction mechanism 63.

The direction in which the traverse motor 62 runs is controlled by a switch 64 fastened to the frame 12. The operating pin of the switch 64 is in the path of a finger 65 fastened to the rod 66 slidable in spaced bearings 67. At least one of the bearings is of high friction material, such as rubber, so that the rod 66 will remain stationary in any position to which it is pushed in either direction. As an alternative, the shaft may carry a pair of permanent magnets spaced from and on opposite sides of the stationary armature formed by an intervening portion of the iron frame member 12. The rod 66 passes freely through the slot 69 in the pulley frame member 25 (see FIG. 4). The rod 66 carries a pair of adjustable stops 70A, 70B on' opposite sides of the end member 25 of carriage 55. The distance between the stops is set to correspond with the length of the winding space of the spool. Specifically, the stop 70A is so adjusted that when the wire, as guided by the pulley 23, reaches the right-hand end of the winding space of the bobbin, the engagement between the end 25. of the carriage and the stop 70A shifts the rod 66 and finger 65 to the right to operate the switch 64 to reverse the motor 62. When the next layer of wire wound on the bobbin reaches the left-hand end of the winding space, the engagement between the end frame member 25 of the carriage 55 andthe stop 70B shifts the rod 66 and finger 65 a short distance to the left to operate switch 64 in the reverse direction so to reverse the motor 62.

For optimum winding, the final pulley 23 should be quite close to the periphery of the fully wound coil. To obtain this relationship with bobbins or coils of substantially different diameter, the stud shaft 28 of the pulley 23 is mounted on the quadrant plate 71 which is angularly adjustable on the pivot pin 73 and is provided with an arcuate slot. Thus, the pulley 23 may be adjusted angularly with respect to pivot 73 for the desired proximity to the spool and is clamped in the desired position by tightening of the thumb bolt 72 threadably received by the frame member 25.

There are many different known types of motors and control circuits suited for inclusion of the speed-control unit 45 and the reversing switch 64. A typical arrangement is shown in FIG. 5. In this circuit, when the Start switch 75 is momentarily closed, current flows from one to the other of the line conductors 76 through the coil 77 of contactor 78, the normally-closed stop switch 79 and the normally-closed emergency-stop switch 80A. The resulting closure of line contact 82 of contactor 78 completes the energizing circuit of the winding motor 11 and of the traverse motor 62.

In the form shown in FIG. 5, the motor control unit 45 is a carbon disc compression rheostat 87 in series with the field winding 86 of motor 11. The rotor of motor 11 is connected between the line conductors 76. As the tension upon the wire 20 increases and decreases above the value set by the weighted lever arm 35, the effective value of resistance of the rheostat 87 is automatically varied as a result of motion imparted to the link 47 through the torque-multiplying lever system between the pulley-slide 32 and the arm 46 of the control unit.

Should a break occur in the wire 20, the slide 32 moves away from pulleys 2G, 21 because of the bias due to the weighted arm 35. The arm 92 movable with the arm 35 accordingly rotates in a counterclockwise direction to open the emergency-stop switch 80A. This interrupts the flow of current through the contactor coil 77 and its line contact 82 thereupon opens to deenergize the motor 11. By additionally providing the emergency-stop switch 89B, the motor 11 may be stopped should the tension on wire 20 for any reason, such as a wire-jam or wire-lock, greatly exceed the limits. In this case, the switch 80B is a normally open switch and is positioned for closure by the arm 92 when the pulle slide 32 moves to the left to a predetermined limit position. With the switch 863 temporarily closed, the contactor coil 7'7 is effectively shortcircuited or shunted so to effect movement of the line contacts 82 to open-circuit position. The current through the emergency-switch 8013 may be limited to a safe value by a current-limiting resistor or reactance 93.

If desired, the winding motor 88 may be provided with an electromagnetic brake 83 having a release coil 84 which is energized concurrently with energization of the actuating coil 77 of contactor 78.

The transverse motor 62 may be a split field universal motor with the fields A, 90B selectively energized in dependence upon theposition of the movable contact of switch 64. When the unit is used as a take-up drive, the traverse motor 62 may be effectively excluded from the control circuit of FIG. 5 by throwing switch 94 to opencircuit position.

It shall be understood the invention is not limited to the specific apparatus disclosed but also includes modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Wire-feeding and tensioning apparatus comprising a motor for driving a rotatable form about which the wire is wound;

means for guiding the wire to said form including a pair of pulleys mounted with their axes passing through a center line in fixed spaced position,

a slide mounted for linear movement toward and from said pair of pulleys,

a third pulley rotatably mounted on said slide and providing a loop in the wire as passing from one to the other of said pair of pulleys, the tension on said wire tending to move said slide toward said center line,

motor-control means having a member movable to vary the speed of said motor, and

a biased lever system including a lever,

a first linkage coupled to said slide and to said lever to bias said slide away from said center line and to convert change in linear position of said slide to change in angular position of said lever, and

a second linkage coupling said motor control member to said lever for automatically changing the motor-speed in sense and to extent corresponding with the direction and extent of change in position of said pulley-slide.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1 additionally including an emergency-stop switch for said motor coupled to said lever for actuation thereby upon movement of said pulley-slide to predetermined extent in at least one direction. 3. A11 apparatus as in claim 1 in which said form is a spool and which additionally includes a carriage reciprocable in a path parallel to the axis of said form, on which said pair of pulleys is rotatably mounted with their axes parallel to said form axis and on which the slide of said third pulley is slidably mounted,

a reversible motor for driving said carriage,

a reversing switch for said motor, and

means for effecting actuation of said switch alternately in opposite directions including structure engaged by said carriage at limits corresponding with the winding space of the spool.

4. An apparatus as in claim 3 in which the pulley nearest said spool is mounted on said carriage for adjustment toward and from the spool axis.

5. An apparatus as in claim 3 in which the first linkage includes a shaft movable with the slide and extending parallel to the path of said carriage, and a link through which said shaft extends for conversion of the linear position of the slide to an angular position of the link.

6. Wire-feeding and tensioning apparatus comprising a motor for driving a rotatable form about which the wire is wound,

means for guiding the wire to said form including a pair of pulleys rotatably mounted in fixed spaced position,

a slide mounted for linear movement toward and from said pair of pulleys,

a third pulley rotatably mounted on said slide and providing a loop in the wire as pulled toward said form from one to the other of said pair of pulleys, the feeding tension on the wire tending to move the slide toward the other pulleys, motor-control means having a member movable to vary the speed at which the wire is pulled over said pulleys, an unbalanced lever mounted for angular movement about a fixed axis and coupled to said slide to provide a substantially constant bias tending to move the slide away from said pair of pulleys, and a second lever mounted for movement about a second fixed axis and interposed between said speed-control member and said unbalanced lever for multiplication of the force applied to said member as derived from change in position of said pulley-slide. 7. Wire-tensioning and feeding apparatus as in claim 6 in which said unbalanced lever is biased by a weight adjustable to preset the relationship between wire-speed and wire-tension for a given angular position of said unbalanced lever.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,533,382 12/1950 Lorenz et al. 24225 2,747,866 5/ 1956 Schmidt 226-44 2,913,191 11/1959 Nelson 24225 3,087,663 4/1963 Anderson 242--44 FOREIGN PATENTS 916,470 1/1963 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. WIRE-FEEDING AND TENSIONING APPARATUS COMPRISING A MOTOR FOR DRIVING A ROTATABLE FORM ABOUT WHICH THE WIRE IS WOUND; MEANS FOR GUIDING THE WIRE TO SAID FORM INCLUDING A PAIR OF PULLEYS MOUNTED WITH THEIR AXES PASSING THROUGH A CENTER LINE IN FIXED SPACED POSITION, A SLIDE MOUNTED FOR LINEAR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND FROM SAID PAIR OF PULLEYS, A THIRD PULLEY ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SLIDE AND PROVIDING A LOOP IN THE WIRE AS PASSING FROM ONE TO THE OTHER OF SAID PAIR OF PULLEYS, THE TENSION ON SAID WIRE TENDING TO MOVE SAID SLIDE TOWARD SAID CENTER LINE, MOTOR-CONTROL MEANS HAVING A MEMBER MOVABLE TO VARY THE SPEED OF SAID MOTOR, AND A BIASED LEVER SYSTEM INCLUDING A LEVER, A FIRST LINKAGE COUPLED TO SAID SLIDE AND TO SAID LEVER TO BIAS SAID SLIDE AWAY FROM SAID CENTER LINE AND TO CONVERT CHANGE IN LINEAR POSITION OF SAID SLIDE TO CHANGE IN ANGULAR POSITION OF SAID LEVER, AND A SECOND LINKAGE COUPLING SAID MOTOR CONTROL MEMBER TO SAID LEVER FOR AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING THE MOTOR-SPEED IN SENSE AND TO EXTENT CORRESPONDING WITH THE DIRECTION AND EXTENT OF CHANGE IN POSITION OF SAID PULLEY-SLIDE. 